The third Lisbon Architecture Triennale, Close, Closer, is announcing a crisis-busting ideas grant for Lisbon, in a direct response to the catastrophic social impacts of recession and the cultural and civic deficit created in crisis-ridden Europe. The Triennale will provide a number of small grants from €500 – € 2,500 (five hundred to two-thousand five hundred Euros) to individuals or teams presenting proposals for funding, part-funding or start-up funding for civic projects in the city of Lisbon.

The grants reflect the existing entrepreneurial and social spirit that has emerged in the city during the crisis and we hope they will encourage more ideas to start-up in Portugal and beyond. The Triennale sees this as an opportunity for architectural thinking and ideas to be applied on a small scale to the city, to support and to give visibility to existing local projects. We hope that the start-up ideas we support can not only attempt to solve problems, produce exciting, beautiful or meaningful contributions to the city, but also inspire others to read, understand and replicate them.